Extinct Monkey Indonesia

Extinct Monkey Indonesia, Thought to be extinct, the Miller’s grizzled langur has been rediscovered in eastern Borneo. Photograph: Eric Fell/AP
Scientists working in the jungles of Indonesia have rediscovered a large grey monkey so rare that many had believed it was extinct.

The scientists were baffled to find the Miller’s grizzled langur in an area well outside its previously recorded home range.

A team of experts set up camera traps in the Wehea forest, on the eastern tip of Borneo island, in June, hoping to capture images of clouded leopards, orangutans and other wildlife known to congregate at several mineral salt licks.

The pictures that came back caught them by surprise – groups of monkeys none had ever seen.

With virtually no photographs of the species in existence, the scientists faced a challenge to confirm their suspicions, Brent Loken, a PhD student at Simon Fraser University in Canada and one of the lead researchers, said. The only images available were museum sketches.

“We were all pretty ecstatic. The fact that, wow, this monkey still lives, and also that it’s in Wehea,” Loken said.

The team of local and international scientists published their findings in the American Journal of Primatology on Friday

The monkey once roamed the north-eastern part of Borneo, as well as the islands of Sumatra and Java and the Thai-Malay peninsula. Concerns were voiced several years ago that it might be extinct.